The original Ames School was built in 1873, at the northeast corner of Hebert and 14th streets. It received an addition in the later Nineteenth Century to the east which has now been torn down.

The new Ames Elementary School moved over to Hadley Street, just north of St. Louis Avenue and east of Interstate 70.

It opened in 1956, during a period where there was rapid construction of many mid-century Modern buildings.

The tiny windows are a stark contrast the large banks of windows common in the earlier William Ittner and Rockwell Milligan commissions.